Part 21

While we crossed to the other side of the river, passing numerous sandbanks which at present had been laid bare, the town presented quite an interesting prospect, the wall being overtopped by dúm-palms, or “gurúru,” a pair of deléb-palms, “murgúm,” and an isolated date-tree, “díffino,”[28] these three species of palms growing together in this place in a very remarkable manner; for it is a rare thing to find them in one and the same spot.

The river, while skirting the town, forms a bend, and changes its course from a west-easterly to a northerly direction. While gliding along the eastern shore my companions called my attention to a species of very tall reed, which they call korókoró, but which is nothing else than the papyrus, which, as I have observed, grows on the shores of the Tsád, and which we shall find in several smaller lakes. But it was highly interesting to me to hear that the natives in this country prepare a peculiar sort of cloth or “gábagá” from it, which I think must be identical with the cloth mentioned by Arab writers under the name “wórzi” or “berdí,” being the Egyptian name for papyrus. However, I did not observe here several other species of the reed which grows on the Tsád, principally the bolé; and on inquiring for that beautiful variety from which the fine matting “kasár” or “farfar” is made, and for which the people of Logón are so celebrated, I was informed by my companions that it only grows near the large market-town Jínna, of which I shall have occasion to say something more further on. I was very anxious to know how the natives called this river, to which, by Major Denham, the name of Shárí or Sháry has been given, and I was confirmed in the opinion which I had previously formed, that this river is not the Shárí, but a small branch of it; Major Denham, during the short stay which he made here, not being able to ascertain that this river, which he saw at the town of Logón, was not the same as that which he saw at Kúsuri, but only a branch of it, and the smaller one. However, all the names given to rivers by the various tribes of Negroland have no other signification than that general one of “water,” “river,” from the western great “Bá,” of the Mandingoes by the Ísa of the Sónghay, Eghírrëu of the Imóshagh, “Máyo” of the Fúlbe, Gulbí of the Háusa, Kwára of the Yóruba, Bénuwé of the Bátta, Komádugu of the Kanúri, the eastern “Bá” of the Bagírmi, the Fittrí of the Kúka, the Bat-há of the Arabs of Wádáy. Thus the name “Shárí” also signifies nothing more than “the river,” that is to say, the river of the Kótokó, to whose language this word belongs, and the word “tsáde,” or rather “tsádhe,” seems nothing but a different pronunciation of this same name, the original form of which is probably “sáre” or “sághe.”

This smaller western branch of the Shárí the natives of Logón call “Lághame na Lógone,” that is to say, the river (“lágham”) of Logón; but higher up it has different names, according to the places which it passes by, being called by the Músgu people in their own language “Éré,” or “Arré,” a name which itself means nothing else but river; while in another place, where I reached it on my expedition to the Músgu country, it bears the peculiar name “Serbéwuël,” I do not know exactly for what reason. Meanwhile we were passing by the village Hónkel, which lies on the western side of the river, and which as I shall soon have occasion to observe, was of great importance in the former history of this country. The river changing its direction here, we again approached the western shore, and saw that at least half the inhabitants of the town had come out to see what the Christian was doing on the river; for they could scarcely imagine that I had embarked for any other purpose than to search for gold. In the midst of the crowd some horsemen in a very showy dress were observed, and I was informed that they were people from Ádishén the Músgu chief, just arrived with a message; and I soon observed that they were priding themselves on a dress which they had received from their oppressors, on the expedition in which I and Mr. Overweg accompanied the latter.

Seeing a crocodile raising its head just above the water close to the other side of the river, I could not resist firing at it, when the crowd burst out in loud cheers of acclamation. The servants of the sultan, however, who had accompanied me in the boat, had been for some time uneasy, and wished me to return; and on reaching a beautiful solitary deléb-palm, or “margúm,” as they are called by the people of Logón, I could no longer resist the pleadings of my companions to abstain from proceeding further. We had here an extensive view over the river, its principal direction being from south 20° east. All these large and splendid streams with which nature has endowed these regions are now scarcely of any use to the people living on their banks; and no traffic, except between the nearest places, is kept up.[29] A wide field for improvement is here open to the energy of man when these regions have been brought under the notice and the influence of Europe.

Turning our boat, we allowed it to go along with the current. The surface of the water was so smooth and pleasant, that I was tempted to take a bath, and there was a great shouting amongst the crowd on the shore when they saw the white man jump overboard; but their surprise was great when, after having splashed about for some time in the river, the current of which was too strong for my weakened frame, they saw me come out empty-handed, and they cried out that they had been cheated,—the people having told them that I was searching for gold. However, when I disembarked, the crowd of spectators was so immense, that my companions could only open me a passage with their whips; and I was really glad when I again reached the house of the Keghámma or Ibálaghwán.

This little excursion, however, cost me dear; for those people of Bagírmi whom I have mentioned before, the principal among whom was called Háj Áhmed, seeing me creating such an uproar, felt inclined to suppose that, if I should enter their own country in the absence of the ruler, I might create a disturbance in the kingdom. The prince of Logón, likewise, had formed far too high an idea of my capacity, and begged me most earnestly to stay some time with him, thinking that he might derive some profit by making himself more independent of his neighbours. Amongst other things, he wanted me to fire off those two guns which I have mentioned before; but their whole appearance inspired me with too little confidence to do so.

As it was, I had a great deal of trouble in persuading the sultan to allow me to pursue my journey eastward; but seeing that if I were to stay here a few days longer I should spend the little I had left, I was firm in my purpose of extending my discoveries beyond my predecessors, Major Denham having already succeeded in reaching this place, although he has only very insufficiently described it, and entirely failed in fixing its right position. I therefore proceeded to take leave of Míyará Ýsuf the next morning, when I found him in the courtyard numbered _f_ in the woodcut, which he seemed to use as stables. His whole stud, however, appeared to consist of only three or four horses of tolerable appearance. He himself was sitting on a raised platform of clay (segáge) dressed very simply, and wearing a red woollen shawl round his head. He was very kind and friendly, and begged me most urgently not to make a long stay in Bagírmi, but to return as soon as possible. Our conversation this time, as well as on the former occasion, was in Kanúri, which he understood perfectly well.

Logón is, it seems, not a national, but a political name, although I have not been able to make out its exact meaning.[30] The inhabitants belong to that great race of the Mása whom I have mentioned on a former occasion, being the brethren of the Músgu, and the kinsmen of the inhabitants of Mándará (the Ur-wándalá) and the Kótokó. Their political existence as people of Logón (or, as they call themselves, Lógodé Logón) is quite recent[31], and their Islám is of still more recent origin. Their country also, like that of the Músgu, was formerly split into a number of small principalities, the chief of Hónkel being the most powerful among them, till about a century and a half ago, when Bruwá, the predecessor of Míyará Mása, is said to have founded the town of Logón, and to have removed the seat of his principality to the present capital (“bírni,” or “kárnak”) of the country. But this ruler, as well as his immediate successors, was a pagan, and probably at that time there were only a few Mohammedans in the place; and Míyará Sále, the old prince whom Denham visited, the father of the present ruler Yúsuf, is said to have been the first among the petty princes of this country who were converted to Islám. Others assert that an older king, Mógha Jénna, was the first Moslim; and this is not at all improbable as the names of some of the kings who preceded Sále evidently show that the influence of Islamism, at least to outward appearance, was felt at a much earlier date.

With regard to the order of succession from Mása down to Sále, it seems that Mása was succeeded by a prince of the name of Úngo Aná-smadú, who was followed by Úngo Aná-logón, the prince to whom, possibly, the present name of the country Logón is to be referred; he was succeeded by Mógha ʿAlí, then followed Mógha Káder, and then the predecessor of Sále, namely, Má Sálikwá. Hence, at the very utmost the Mohammedan religion is not above sixty years old in this country; and many of the younger inhabitants of the place are well aware that their fathers were pagans by birth, and afterwards turned Mohammedans. Of course their Islám, even at present, is of a poor character; and the whole knowledge of religious matters which they possess, with the exception of a few elevated persons, consists of a few phrases which they learn by heart without understanding their meaning, and the practice of circumcision. In the country towns, however, even at present, most of the people are pagans.

The inhabitants of Logón fought repeatedly with their neighbours and kindred of Mándará, and seem to have been successful in that direction. They are also said to have once destroyed the town of Mélé, which lies on the eastern side of the river Shárí, and to have killed all the male inhabitants. The former sultans of Bórnu seem to have left the people of Logón in enjoyment of tolerable tranquillity, being content with a small tribute which they made them pay as a mark of subjection. But at present the tribute is considerable, considering the small extent of the country, and moreover the unfortunate petty prince of this small kingdom is compelled to pay another tribute to the sultan of Bagírmi, whose people harass him continually.

The name which the people of Logón give to their western neighbours is interesting, as its origin seems to go back into a remote age; for they call them Billangáre, or rather, “bílle Ngáre,” a name which was probably derived from Ngarú, the ancient capital of the Gháladí, or the western provinces of the Bórnu empire, which I have mentioned on a former occasion; “bílle” means people in general. As for their eastern neighbours, the Bagírmi people, they call them by the name of Mókkode, which might seem to have some connection with Makada, a name often applied to the country west of Abyssinia, and which I think is erroneously stated to mean Christian.

From the south-west the Fúlbe or Felláta press heavily upon them; and, as we have seen on the expedition to Músgu, the elderman in the village of Wáze, which belongs to the territory of Logón, is himself a Púllo or Felláta.

The people of Logón in former times seem to have made frequent inroads into the country of their neighbours and kinsmen the Músgu, in order to supply their want of slaves; but about eight years previous to my visit they seem to have suffered so severe a check in that quarter, as to make them desist from undertaking any further expeditions. Upon that occasion they lost their commander-in-chief, Keghámma or Ibálaghwán Yáhia[32], the same who built the really imposing palace where I was lodged. This commander undertook an expedition into the Músgu country, not, as usual, by land, but by water, and having gone on shore near a village called Gúmmel, was taken by surprise, and together with the most valiant of his companions, was slain by the natives of the country.

The government seems to be a limited monarchy, the sovereign being surrounded by a number of high functionaries, who form the divan or “tálubá,” identical with the nógoná of the Bórnu people. The first of these high functionaries is the Ibálaghwán, next follows the Málaghwán or Gháladíma, then the Mairáy, then the Madám, the Mará-leghá or king of the water, the Wulangháy or Chiróma (the claimant to the succession), the Maraymarbá, the Madamátiyá, the Madám ukhsám, the Intháwa, the Mághawén akhthám, the Másaghé akhthám, and the Mághalé-muté.

The territory of Logón is most advantageously situated near the point of junction of two considerable rivers; the river of Logón, the Lágham, or Éré towards the west, and the Shárí or Bá towards the east; and it might be a most happy little kingdom if it were not overwhelmed and oppressed by its more powerful neighbours, who, as we have just seen, encroach upon it on all sides. But while the Bórnu people levy a more regular tribute, the people of Bagírmi seem to treat the poor inhabitants of the districts nearest their borders with the greatest injustice, subjecting them, in a very anomalous manner, to all sorts of contributions. Nevertheless, from the list of the places which I shall subjoin in the Appendix[33], it will be seen that the country is still tolerably well inhabited, though certainly it cannot now be said to be in a very flourishing condition.

As for the food of the natives, fish (“kíyi”) in which the river is extremely rich, constitutes a great proportion of their live stock; but cattle (“nthá”) as well as sheep (“wúfu”) seem to be extremely rare, and it has the appearance as if their neighbours had deprived them entirely of this article of wealth and comfort. The native Arabs however are tolerably well supplied with both. Poultry also seems not to be very numerous; but the hog (“sése”) abounds in immense quantities, and seems to be often resorted to by the natives as an article of food. Besides sorghum or, as they call it, “mákalá,” and millet, “víyo” (the “fíyo” of the Kótokó and Yédiná—rice I did not observe), a great deal of cotton, “mpátakí,” is grown in the country; and weaving constitutes one of the principal employments of the people. Indeed their shirts (“labú”) are of very excellent manufacture; but their indigo (“mógoné”) is not very good, nor are they expert in dyeing.[34]

In addition to their cotton, which ought to be cultivated to an unbounded extent in these low and richly irrigated regions, the beautiful lattice-work of cane before mentioned, the common sort being called “parpar” or “farfar,” while a better kind is called “móman,” constitutes one of their most famous manufactures; their wooden bowls (“dalgwam”) likewise, and the round straw covers (“killé”), are remarkable; for the bowls are of very good workmanship, much better than they are seen in Kúkawa, although they do not attain to that excellency which is observed in the manufactures of Dár Fúr.

Altogether the inhabitants of this country seem to be a clever race, and are in general handsomer than the Bórnu people, the women in particular. It is remarkable that they use almost the same sort of tattooing as the Kanúri, consisting of sundry curved lines along the cheek, generally six, running from the outer angle of the eye down to the mouth; it is also curious that they have the same word for it[35] as the Kanúri, although their languages are so entirely different in other respects.

My stay in the country, of course, was too short to allow me to speak more decidedly respecting their moral qualities. The currency of pieces of iron as money, which Denham observed in his time[36], has long been abolished; and at present the standard money of the place is cotton strips of from two to three inches in width.

With regard to the language of the people of Logón, Denham has committed a great mistake in supposing that it was identical with the language of Bagírmi; for though what he heard was really the language of Bagírmi, which is spoken to a great extent by the natives, yet their original language, which is spoken exclusively, among the people themselves, is quite distinct, being nearly related to that of the people of Músgu. They call their language kélakú Lógone. As far as I became acquainted with it, the pronunciation is very difficult, on account of the many aspirated sounds, especially that of “kh” or “th;” and in this respect it has some resemblance to the English.

[Footnote 26: Bulletin de la Société de Géogr. de Paris, s. III. vol. xi. p. 30; vol. xiv. p. 159.]

[Footnote 27: This word is only another form of the name which the Yédiná give to the boat, viz. “pum.”]

[Footnote 28: It is very remarkable and interesting that the date-palm, in all these countries as far as Bagírmi, goes by the Háusa name “debíno,” from which circumstance it is plain that it was first introduced into that part of Negroland. Even the Fúlbe of Sókoto have no other name for it, while those of Ádamáwa call it after the tree of the native date, viz. the addwa or _Balanites Ægyptiaca_. But the Sónghay and Mába or Wadáy languages have quite independent names for this palm.]

[Footnote 29: I have however to observe that the Kúrí sometimes bring native corn as far as Búgomán.]

[Footnote 30: I think it has no connection with the river or lágham, else they could not call it “lághame Lógone.”]

[Footnote 31: The name is not mentioned in the annals of Edrís Alawóma.]

[Footnote 32: I will here give a list of the Ibálaghwáns, as far as they came to my knowledge. Íba-Gáre, Íba-Kyári, Íba-ʿOthmán, Íba-Káder, Íba- Abú, Íba-Ádem, Íba-Sʿaíde, Íba-Yáhia, Íba-Herdége.]

[Footnote 33: Appendix III., No. II.]

[Footnote 34: The reader will see that my judgment in this respect is very different from that which Denham passed on them (_Travels and Discoveries_, i., p. 237.); but Denham never visited Kanó, and had no standard for judging what was good and what was not.]

[Footnote 35: The Kanúri call it “béli,” the lógodé Lógone “bél.”]

[Footnote 36: Denham, i. p. 238.]

[Illustration: Drawn by J. M. Bernatz, from a Sketch by Dr. Barth.

M. & N. Hanhart, lith. et impt.

LOGÓN BÍRNI.

August, 17th. 1852.]

CHAP. XLVIII.

THE TWO RIVERS. — ENTRANCE INTO BAGÍRMI.

[Sidenote: March 16th.]

It was ten o’clock in the morning when I left Kárnak Logón in order to penetrate into unknown regions, never before trodden by European foot; and a short time afterwards I was sitting in the boat, while our horses, the camel, and the bullock were partly swimming across and partly fording the river. The water was in general shallow, though in the deepest place it measured eight feet and a half. The current was about three miles an hour. The country at that period had a very different appearance from what it presented on my return from Bagírmi. At present all those low grounds, which later in the season are entirely inundated, had a swampy, cheerless aspect, and I hastened onwards in order to escape from the unhealthy locality, heated by the rays of the mid-day sun. Only now and then a small patch of cotton-ground was seen between the tall jungle. Close to the river there is scarcely a single tree; but further on, where the country becomes more cultivated, isolated karáge-trees, together with straggling groups of cottages, were seen here and there. Not having exposed myself to the mid-day sun during the last few days, and the heat being very great, I looked for a place to pass the hottest hours of the day; and to the disappointment of my companions, who were anxious for a good dinner, I dismounted under the cool shade of a beautiful wide-spreading fig-tree, “ngábbere,” or “zérra,” as the people of Logón call it, at some distance from a little village called Sóso, situated towards the north, while on our right there was a watercourse winding along through a shallow depression in the green meadow grounds, without any visible inclination. These shallow watercourses are, as I have already had occasion to mention on my journey to Músgu, one of the most characteristic features in this part of Central Africa, which formerly was thought to be a dry elevated waste. Naked young lads were splashing and playing about in the water, together with wild hogs, in the greatest harmony; never in any part of Negroland have I seen this animal in such numbers as here about the Shárí. Calves and goats were pasturing in the fields, with wild hogs in the midst of them.

When we pursued our march at two o’clock in the afternoon, I was greatly pleased to see numbers of fine horses round the groups of Shúwa villages which bordered the watercourse; while the whole scenery was enlivened by the rich foliage of wide-spreading trees. Onions likewise were cultivated here in considerable quantities. On the right of our path were very extensive fields, of a peculiar kind of winter-corn, called “sáffará” by the people of Logón, and “kérirám” by the Kanúri. This belongs to the ruler of the country; but in general very little grain is seen in this part of Logón, the inhabitants being afraid of the people of Bagírmi, who used to gather the harvest of what they themselves have sown. But small cotton grounds are occasionally observed.

After a march of about nine miles we reached a place called Báta, half deserted, and surrounded by a clay wall, in a very decayed state. Nevertheless, the few cottages that remained, simple and unpretending though they were, testified to some degree of industry and cleanliness. Of hospitality, however, we received no proof; and the authority of the Míyará Ýsuf seemed to be nought indeed, these poor people affirming, with some show of reason, that as the ruler did not protect them against the unjust exactions of their neighbours, they need not respect his commands. There was, therefore, little necessity for the servant of the sultan accompanying me any further, for if they did not respect his orders here, they would certainly not do so further on.

[Sidenote: Wednesday, March 17th.]